RED QUEEN TO GRYPHON THREE

If post-metal be music that used to be metal and post-rock be music that used to be rock, and I do state these definitions tongue in cheek, then surely Red Queen to Gryphon Three represents post folk. This is music partial to folk instrumentation that otherwise has nothing to do with folk music. I have listened numerous times to RQTGT over the years, and whether I am trying to discover good prog folk, good symphonic rock, or just good music, I have come up empty every time.

This is a decidedly over-produced album with plenty of juicy arrangements, good playing and promising segments, but, taken as a whole, as a voyage from A to Z, it seems to have become mired around D. Certain parts of each track grant small liberties to the prog folk that is trying desperately to emerge with a melody that might be remembered 5 seconds after it has played. The most of these parts occur on the original side 1 before they detour via fusion, and unfortunately Gryphon is not nearly as good a fusion band as a folk band. In fact the synthesizers in the more frenzied segments are pithy and utterly lacking in dynamics and warmth. This coldness is also at the heart of my problem with the album.

I admit that I like some folk with my prog folk and some melodic with my symphonic prog, so please consider that when comparing my review to the accolades generally presented on this page. For me, RQTGT is, and was from the first to the last time, a stale mate.